The Road follows a man and a boy (approximately ten years old), father and son, journeying together for many months across a desolate, post-apocalyptic landscape, some years--the period of time almost the same as the age of the boy--after a great, unexplained cataclysm. The story takes place in the lower Appalachian mountains. Civilization has been destroyed, and most species have become extinct. There is no sun, only deep, dark clouds, and the climate has been altered radically. Plants do not grow. What happened outside of North America is left unexplained. Humanity consists largely of bands of cannibals, their food-source captives, and refugee-travelers who scavenge for food.
Check it out, it's a good book. Read it before the movie ruins it.